I would like to start by saying that I'm quite new to tube amps and high end speakers but always been looking for naturally sounding sound system for quite a long time. Recently a good friend of mine talked to me about tube amps and I must say that I was very intrigued at first… After some researches, readings and having listened to a tube amp sound in a demo room have decided to give it a try as a first purchase for my newly acquired space.

I have looked at Decware website and I narrowed my choices to the following combination:• The Zen Ziegler Speakers - model MG944• The Zen Triode Integrated - 6 watts per channel stereo amplifier

Could you please review my choice and tell me if both work well together? What other combination could be recommended as the Zen Triode Integrated appears to be temporarily unavailable.

I tried using emailing Decware regarding my questions but received no answer yet so I’m trying the forum…

This would be a very good combination. The Integrated is a beautiful sounding Single Ended triode amp and the MG944s are amazing. Most anything Decware offers would be very good with the 944s, but you may have more power needs than the 2 watt SE84+ if you like to listen loud, or have a larger room.

There was some talk on the forum about discontinuing the Integrated, but I have no personal knowledge of this. You could search the forum to possibly find out more. Also, you will find advocates for all the amps and speakers if you read the forums. Everything is really good.

I have a Torii MkIII I upgraded to after I had the Integrated. Both are very good in different, but equally compelling ways to me. For the purist Triode the choice may be the SE84+, and if this is not enough power, you could bridge two of them. The Mini Torii is well loved too, as is the Taboo, though it apparently needs a preamp...yet another option. All have advantages and individual signatures, and are well loved by their owners.

So really, talking to Steve Deckert about your tastes, room and needs would be the best if you can call. Email may sometimes be difficult for him as he receives such a great volume. The phone contact is on the contact page of the site.

If you can't call, maybe you could describe your particular listening requirements....music styles, room size, loudness, sound preferences, intended uses in general...whatever you can think of, and forum members will be better able to help.

Thank you for your reply. The reason I initially chose the The Zen Triode Integrated SE34I.2 was because its price range seemed to be in between the available options. I now notice that the MINI TORII has 4 watts output instead of 6 and is slightly more expensive. What’s the difference between both options? I don't plan on listening loud; don't want to bother my neighbour!

My listening tastes are quite various and can span quite far but my main use of these speakers will be for relax ambience music in the living room and to accompany an LCD monitor for movies on rare occasions as well. I plan to drive the signal from a digital source such as a PC/laptop. Would I require some sort of external high-end sound card to accompany the system?

Living room is open space with dining room and kitchen; ceilings are regular 8 feet tall.

I have it on authority that the SE84I Integrated will return in a newer chassis with updated design. It is not known whether it will be near its present price or whether it will go upmarket in price. If it is fitted with tube regulation stages and other things it will be more expensive.

A MINI TORII would serve all your needs. It is a more versatile amp, with nearly infinite tube changes being possible.

RR, thanks for the clarification on the SE34I.2+. Good news on that! I loved that amp, but for me with the 944s it was just a little quiet for some DVDs. I like to be able to listen pretty loud though. Could have just gotten the Zstage to bump the gain a bit, but it was not made then. Never an issue with music, in fact, with the 944s, I don't think I ever got near distortion with it even with loud music listening.

Sevan, what do you mean about your neighbor. Do you mean a shared wall, or is there some distance between houses? Loudness is pretty relative. For example, would you ever listen loud enough that you could not hear a normal conversation clearly from 12 feet away, or from five feet away???? Also, from your explanation of your open floorplan room, it could be pretty big or moderate size with the open floor plan. Though the power in Deceware amps is all usable, and they are much louder than one would expect coming from a solid state a history, but room size and loudness can matter with low power amps.

Is sounds like you are all good, but just checking.

Have you read over Steve's explanations of the different amps and speakers? Though they all sound like glowing explanations, they should be because it is all good stuff. And he is pretty careful with getting the story straight. There may be some things that catch your attention about a given amp.

But after some research here and on the sale site, I would really call Steve to talk about it, especially with the news of the SE34 remodel. He has a long experience with all the right questions to try help you get what you would like most.

Computer playback is a vast arena, and the source (in this case a computer and a DAC, or an all in one sort of server/DAC) is often considered the most important piece. After all, it determines what everything down stream gets! Don't know what you use now, but Decware is very revealing gear, so a reasonably good source is important. I suspect that a card in a computer is short changing yourself.

You've been given great advice here. Sounds as if you have a relatively large open area to potentially fill with sound. I'm not certain, from my personal experience, that the sound level of 6 watts per channel will really be satisfying in that area. I tried it for some time, but finally went with the Torii Mk III. A call to Steve is both the best way to reach him, and also the best source of information of which amp will suit your needs.

Hope that we will be reading your impressions of your new amp in a few months!

Actually yes, it's a corner condo units but I still have neighbours surrounding me. Open space of about 750cf for living/dining/kitchen rooms + two bedrooms for a total of 1050cf. So I don’t plan on listening to levels where we can’t hear people speak…

Should I consider a pre-amp of some sort for switching from PC/Laptop sound source vs other possible devices? Yeah, I think I will need to get an external soundcard or something for better digital to analog conversion.

Rivieraranch, when you say I can swap tubes on the Mini-Torii, what do you mean exactly, what are the benefits of that?

I think you guys are right – I will give Steve a call tomorrow. Thank you very much for your help and support!

There are a lot of details about all the tubes you can use with the MINI TORII on its product page. Also there are some posts on this issue as well. It is designed to accept a number of power tubes, all which will give a different sound signature. Same with the input tubes and voltage regulators. It is an extremely versatile amp.

Actually what you would need to get good sound from a computer is a DAC (Digital Audio Convertor) and a good sense of the demands and setup of the computer to put it together optimally. Alternately there are readymade computer servers out there, and of course CD players, or CD transports to match with a DAC.

In my opinion, if you are to get the Decware gear you want (which is very high quality for a real feeling music experience), you would be doing yourself a disservice not to have a really solid and quality front end, be it computer/server based, or a CD player. After all, the amp and speakers can only convey what comes into them.

I'm happy I have waited a bit more and now I'm quite happy to see that the new SE34I.3 Tube Amp is out.

I would be getting the following to get started:- SE34I.3 AMP- Trapezium desktop speakers for my office left n right of a 24" Dell Screen.- Some HQ DAC such as Wavelength Audio Proton or Peachtree Audio DAC•iT

Then eventually add the The Zen Ziegler Speakers model MG944 to the living room and connect them to the SE341.3 in the office.

I'll try calling Steve for his advises (still didn't had the chance to do so) but what do you think, is the SE341.3 overkill for the Trapezium? I see it more like an investment at this point. The Trapezium are the only speakers choice that makes sense for my little office room where I got my laptop. Bookshelf would be too big I assume.

I think your planning is sound. From what I've read here about the Trapezium speakers, and my first hand knowledge of the earlier Integrated, I'd say NO, not overfkill. Would be suitable and make the speakers sing. And then work excellently with the larger speakers. Sounds like a good plan.

I hope you guys are doing well.I received emails confirming that my order is almost completed. Quite excited!So I have decided to purchase the DAC I require and I was hesitating between these following from the same manufacturer:

Peachtree Audio iDac - 900$Peachtree Audio Tac-it - 449$

I don't have any iPod but the hardware specs for DAC still appears better.

If you are willing to spend US$900+, I heartily recommend the Oppo-BDP 95 universal player.The DAC is fantastic.On the front, there is a USB port which allows one to playback FLAC or mp3 files stored on a USB thumb drive.